Welcome to Gaia! ::

Axinite glanced up from his desk, a bit surprised by the mention of a present.

“I have fresh sugar cookies, but I don’t know if that counts as a present.” He hadn’t made them special for her, and he always had things to share with anyone who came to visit.

He sat up at his desk, looking tired and worn but glad to see a friendly face. He had a modified tablet on his desk, much larger than the portable versions, and it seemed like he was in the middle of a report. It wasn’t important enough that he prioritized it over Sylvite, though; he pressed a button at the top left and right to shut down the holographic screen, leaving an empty space on his desk. He put his elbows on the desk and leaned forward a bit to greet her.

“I haven’t seen you in a bit, I’d love to catch up. Come sit down. Would you like some tea?”

Axinite had been in the process of standing to make some tea when she made her gift known to him. Immediately, he paused and reached out for it. “You saw this and thought of me?”

He laughed, softly at first, but ran his thumb fondly over the little thing before he set it close to the corner of his desk, nearest to him. “It’s perfect, Sylvite. I love it.”

He wasn’t much for cute things, but he was grateful for the gift, and then went on to explain, “My first youma looked a lot like that. He was quite a bit bigger, though. I bet he would have loved you,” he said, only this time he had actually managed to get up and pour two cups of tea. He filled his cup up more than hers, specifically so she could have as much sugar as she liked without worrying about overfilling.

“He used to like to stay in my office with me. Very protective.”

Axinite took his seat again and passed her the cup, glancing at the little fox again. He smiled again, amused and endeared. “Back then I got out a lot more, though. I like this very much, Sylvite. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” Axinite said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward. I do like it. It makes me smile.”

It made him sad, too, in the way that missing someone important always did, but there was a hole in his heart that wouldn’t ever fill. There weren’t enough memories to make him whole again, but moments like this helped a little bit.

“If you’d like to meet him, I’m more than happy to introduce you. The jokes were, yes, well.” He cleared his throat and sipped at his tea. It wasn’t hot enough that he couldn’t drink it. “He wasn’t upset by them, so there’s no harm. He’s really rather charming. Very loyal. Very warm, too. Not that that’s how you should choose your youma, of course, but I won’t lie to you, there are times when I’ve sought him out just to take advantage of his heat.”

Although, he wondered if that was information he could share in the presence of the same ones making jokes, before.

He sighed, at least a little exasperated, but still fond.

“He spends a lot of time in the Rift, even now. I worry that I neglect him, but he seems happy enough to tend to himself. Every now and then he decides to visit my office. When he stretches out he takes up all this room, between here and the door. And when he’s feeling particularly petulant, when he makes himself bigger? It’s impossible to open the door. I can’t get up from the desk if he lays on me. Do you have a youma you’re fond of right now?”

Axinite laughed softly at this. “She sounds lovely. I’d like to meet her sometime, too. Perhaps I’ll have to invite you the next time I take a walk through the city, we can bring our youma. He likes to explore. No matter how many times I walk through the city, I always find something else interesting. Maybe not very exciting, but new to me. It makes me wonder how many things are actually hidden out there. Metallia must have found everything important, but,” he shrugged.

“I think the little pieces are interesting, too. The fragments that got left behind. When I was younger, I dreamed of being a famous explorer for a time. I was very small, and I didn’t realize that ‘treasure hunter and explorer’ wasn’t exactly a practical career choice. All that training on the monkey bars, for naught.”

He sighed, but didn’t seem particularly sad about it. A distant memory, something nostalgic and far away. He was still smiling. “I bet you give very good hugs, Sylvite. You’re very comforting to be around. I appreciate that you’ve come to visit. It’s nice to have someone checking on me. I haven’t gotten to talk about my youma in a while. It does make me a little sad, but I have a lot of fond memories, too. So it’s nice, I think.”

The position wasn’t immediately comfortable, partly because Axinite’s position didn’t give him any good ground to return the hug. He was surprised, at first, and maybe a bit flustered, but in the first few seconds he shifted just slightly so he could return it.

He didn’t get up, he didn’t risk breaking the hug. He just appreciated it.

Maybe it was obvious that he didn’t go around getting a lot of hugs, but it really didn’t take him long to relax into it. He patted Sylvite’s back appreciatively a few seconds later but didn’t break it.

“I like being right.”

It was little more than a whisper, but he sounded content. “I want you to know that you’re welcome to visit my office whenever you like. For any reason. Just in case I haven’t said it before.”